Jim Madonna might have been the only athlete who found Saturday’s cold weather to his liking during the inaugural Moab Senior Games.

Madonna lives in Fairbanks, Alaska, where residents wear tolerance of frigid temperatures like a badge of honor. For the games in Moab, Madonna wore just a red, white and blue sleeveless T-shirt and shorts as he participated in track events Nov. 10.

Make that all the track events.

The 74-year-old lifetime member of Running Club North ran the 1,500-meter, 800-meter, 400-meter, 200-meter and 100-meter races, in that order and with little rest between. His reaction?

“I like the altitude here,” said Madonna, whose hometown is 400 feet above sea level while Moab is at 4,000 feet in elevation.

His iron man performance earned the appreciation of a sparse crowd, especially Madonna’s 7:07 time in the 1,500. He finished first in his age group in each event.

“My grandson was just amazed at him,” said Moab Senior Games organizer Suzan Martin. “He’s a tough old guy.”

Elsewhere around town, people participated in pickleball, tennis, golf, archery, basketball, bridge, horseshoes, swimming and volleyball. Dancing and a race walk/run also were on the agenda for the inaugural Moab Senior Games.

Nothing was canceled due to weather, which had turned windy and chilly by Friday.

“The golf people even played in the wind,” Martin said. “It’s too bad the weather turned foul on us, but I think things went incredibly well.

“Everybody had a lot of fun. I was really happy with it, and I’m sure it will be bigger next year.”

Age-group winners in each event won gold medals and, since it was the first time the event was held, each winner set a Moab Senior Games record.

While a second-annual event is anticipated, Martin said an inaugural summer version of the games also will be held in Moab.

“The summer games will be marketed more toward people here in Moab,” she said. “It will be a little more for those who are inactive, with card games and billiards. It won’t be so strenuous.”

We're glad to give readers a forum to express their points of view on issues important to this community. That forum is the “Letters to the Editor.” Letters to the editor may be submitted directly to The Times-Independent through this link and will be published in the print edition of the newspaper. All letters must be the original work of the letter writer – form letters will not be accepted. All letters must include the actual first and last name of the letter writer, the writer’s address, city and state and telephone number. Anonymous letters will not be accepted.

Letters may not exceed 400 words in length, must be regarding issues of general interest to the community, and may not include personal attacks, offensive language, ethnic or racial slurs, or attacks on personal or religious beliefs. Letters should focus on a single issue. Letters that proselytize or focus on theological debates will not be published. During political campaigns, The Times-Independent will not publish letters supporting or opposing any local candidate. Thank you letters are generally not accepted for publication unless the letter has a public purpose. Thank you letters dealing with private matters that compliment or complain about a business or individual will not be published. Nor will letters listing the names of individuals and/or businesses that supported a cause or event. Thank you letters about good Samaritan acts will be considered at the discretion of the newspaper.